Receptacle for sterilizing purposes



(No Model.)

O. B. W. SCHIE'R. RECBPTAGLE FOR STBRILIZING PURPOSES.

Patented July 3, 1894:.v

ne: annals Pneus cu., Primo-umu. wksumafon, D. c.

Ninnv STATES.

PATENT Farce.

REcEPTAcLi-z -Fol-'e sTlnlLlzlNcy PURPOSES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 522,235, dated July 3, 1894. Application mea April 7,1894. sen-a1 No. 506.780. (No man.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR BERNHARD WIL- HELM SCHIER, a citizen of theUnited States, residing in Baltimore city and State of Maryland, have invented `certain new and useful Improvements in Receptacles for Sterilizing Purposes; and Ido declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference'being had'to the accompanying drawings, and to .the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to receptacles for sterilizing milk, chocolate or any other liquid, as well as fruits, &c., and its object is to provide such receptacleswith an automatically closing stopper, which shall remain air-tight and be protected from accidental displacement during the necessary handling of the receptacles in packing and shipping them.

Milk and other substances are usually sterilized in the bottles in which they are transported to consumers, and the proper closing of the bottles at the end of the sterilizng process is a matter of some difculty. When sterilizing bottles are not closed automatically, it is almost impossible to prevent germs from being conveyed into them from the hand of the operator during the closing ofthe stoppers. It has been proposed to use a iiexible diskstopper,largerindiameterthanthe mouth of the bottle, and resting iiat upon it during the processing, but forced into a concave or cup shape by the atmospheric pressure, upon the formation of a vacuum in the bottle when the contents are cooled. But this stopper is very liable to be thrown od by the escaping vapors during the processing, and it is exposed to displacement by accidental knocks during the handling andshipping of the bottles. Moreover, the shape of the bottle mouth is not such as to give a broad,iiat seat for the stopper, a point of great importance when the bottle is to be kept for any length of time, since it is less likely to leak when the stopper has a good bearing surface.

My invention is an improvement on this class of devices, and in carrying it into practice,I provide each bottle with a countersunk mouth, and I place in the countersink a disk .of soft iieXible material capableV of enduring the heat of the sterilizing process. The diameter of this disk is less than that of the mouth of the bottle, so that as itrests on the 'shoulder at the bottom of the countersink,

there is an annular space all around it. The shoulder supporting the disk is preferably coned. A guard is slipped over the neck of the bottle, havingan arm or cross-bar resting upon the center of the disk, andpreventing it from displacement, by the escaping steam and hot air. At the'conclusion of the processing, the heat is quickly turned off, and the cold air is suddenly admitted to the sterilizing tank, the eect 0f which is to suddenly condense the heated vapor in the bottle and cause the disk to be sucked tightly down upon the coned shoulder, thereby hermetically and automatically closing the bottle. The guard may be then removed, and the bottle is ready for shipment, the disk ,being fully protected by the surrounding rim of,l the countersunk mouth.

In the drawings, Figure lis a top plan view of the bottle'provided with a guard and ready for the sterilizing process. Fig. 2 is a Verti cal section of the same. Fig. 3 is aplan view of the guard. Fig. 4 is atop plan view, showingamodified construction of the guard. Fig. 5 is a plan View of this guard. Fig. 6 'is a vertical section of thebottle hermeticallyclosed and Fig. 7 is asection of a modified stopper.

The bottle A is made of glass, and the walls and bottom are of uniform thickness, and free from sharp corners, to enable it to success.- fully withstand the heating and cooling to which it is subjected. The mouth of the bottle is countersunk, forming an annular shoul. der a, which is preferably coned as shown.

The stopperB is composedof a disk of soft- Iiexible material, such as parchment paper, soaked in parafiine, though I prefer the best quality of pure Para rubber, sincev theA perfection of the closure, and the maintenance of the vacuum depend entirely upon the contact between the disk and its seat( The disk may be composed of two or more materials. Thus the under side of the rubber may be centrally covered with paper, cloth or the like to protect it from the milk. Or the disk may be of paper or the like with a gasket of rubber, attached to it or loose, as desired, (see IOO Fig. 7.) The disk is cut a little smaller than the mouth of the bottle, so as to leave all round it an annular space for the escape ot the hot air and vapor.

The bottle having been tilled, and the disk dropped into place, a guard C is slipped over the neck of the bottle. This consists preferably of a ring fitting easily upon the bottle, and provided with a finger, arm, cross bar or bars c projecting inwardly and downwardly so as to rest upon the center of the disk. This leaves the edges of the disk free to rise and permit the vapor to escape during the sterilizing process, but prevents the disk from being tilted to one side or otherwise displaced. At the end of the process, the steam is shut oi from the heating coils, and the cover of the sterilizing tank is opened, admitting a rush of cold air, which suddenly forms a vacuum in the bottle, causing the disk to be sucked inward until it assumes the concave or dished shape shown in Fig. (3, with the edges in close contact with the shoulder a. The disk must be thick enough to resist being sucked into the bottle. In this condition, the disk is subjected to an atmospheric pressure of eight or t ten pounds, which is quite sufiicieut to hold it tightly closed. Should any leakage occur, it can be readily detected by the change in the appearance of the disk, which by reason of its elasticity tends to resume its normal Hat shape when the pressure is reduced. In the same way, any tampering with the bottle can be detected. The rim a of the bottle mouth surrounds and protects the disk so that after the guard O is removed, the bottle can be freely handled without danger of displac- To open the bottle, it is first warmed to the proper temperature, thus reducing the vacuum and counteracting in some degree the pressure upon the stopper, 'which can then be readily pried up and removed.

By reversing the disk at each iilling of the bottle, it will be prevented from getting permanently `dished, and so will last for a long time.

While I have shown and described my improvements as applied to a bottle, yet I do not limit myself thereto, but wish it to be understood that they are applicable to any receptacle used for sterilizing purposes. f

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination with a receptacle for ster ilized food, provided with a countersunk mouth having a flat coned seat a surrounded by the rim a', of an elastic disk resting on said seat and of less diameter than the same, and adapted to be automatically closed upon said seat and held there by atmospheric pressure only, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I allix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

OSCAR BERNHARD WILHELM SCIIIER.

Witnesses:

R. G. WARE, CHARLES T. DAVIS. 

